Uttar Pradesh raises sugarcane price by Rs.25 a quintal

Lucknow, Oct 23 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh government Friday hiked by Rs.25 a quintal the state advised price (SAP) of sugarcane in the state for the forthcoming crushing season, commencing early November. According to a decision taken by the Mayawati-led state cabinet, the prevailing per quintal SAP of Rs.140 has been raised to Rs.165 for the general variety of sugarcane which forms about 80 percent of the state’s produce.

For the “early” yielding variety that forms about 20 percent of the produce, the price goes up from the existing Rs.145 to Rs.170 per quintal.

Even for the “currently rejected” variety which was barely 5 percent of the overall sugarcane grown in the state, the price was raised from Rs. 137.50 to Rs.162.50 per quintal.

“This has been done in the larger interest of farmers who failed to discontinue growing certain varieties that were removed from the list of varieties approved by the state,” a senior government spokesman told reporters here Friday evening.

He added: “The flat hike of Rs.25 per quintal was not only unprecedented in the history of the state, but was also far ahead of what agriculturally rich states like Haryana and Punjab had announced.”

While Haryana declared a hike of Rs.10 per quintal, the increase in Punjab was of the order of Rs.20 per quintal, he said.

The decision follows a detailed study by a high level committee constituted by Chief Minister Mayawati under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta, who submitted his report after hearing out representatives of sugarcane growers as well as sugar mill owners.